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Beloved Enemy: A Jack McClure Novel

Review

“The secretary of homeland security is shot in the middle of the nation’s capital.”
“In his own home, no less…”
“No one could have known, let alone guessed, that he and his security detail would be shot to death by his own man, Jack McClure.”

Secretary Dennis Paull had information that got him killed. Jack McClure was there at the time. He had an after-hours meeting with Paull, who gave him a problem to solve: Uncover the identity of a mole high up in their midst. But when McClure heads home, he doesn’t realize someone has breached security and killed his friend.

"McClure must have nine lives, like a cat, to survive his many trials, and a resilience any spy would envy. But if he doesn’t find a way to bounce back after every hitch, he risks a nasty death."

The U.S. government knows it has a mole. They have known for quite some time, but it’s the who that has been eluding them. Now, with the murder of Dennis Paull, the evidence points squarely at Jack McClure as both the mole and the killer. The Feds waste no time closing in for an arrest. Fortunately, for McClure, someone tips him off and he makes a run for it. By the barest of margins, he manages to get himself out of the country just in the nick of time. Of course, DC officials have long reaches, and men are soon hot on his trail and tracking his every move.

It becomes the proverbial race against time. McClure knows who he needs to find --- Secretary Paull gave him that name, along with the assignment --- but he also knows he needs to find that person before someone kills him to silence him forever. Therein lies the tricky part. You see, Paull’s informant has cockily dropped hints that he can unmask the mole. But he’s intimately tied to Iraj Namazi, aka The Syrian, a terrorist of the worst kind: brilliant, cunning and power hungry. Staying alive around Namazi can be challenging at best.

Complicating the mission is McClure’s ex-lover, Annika Dementieva. The last time he saw her --- the woman he craves despite himself --- she betrayed him for Namazi. Now McClure is out to locate her and destroy her lover. When he does, will he also destroy her? And can he trust himself to keep his head when he sees her? After all, she is the one person in the world who can turn his brain to mush.

With relentless action, McClure is on a high-stakes chase through the U.S., Bangkok and Switzerland. And with the Alps as a backdrop, it can’t get much more precipitous. Or much more beautiful. McClure must have nine lives, like a cat, to survive his many trials, and a resilience any spy would envy. But if he doesn’t find a way to bounce back after every hitch, he risks a nasty death. And maybe the love of the only woman he cares about. Figuring out who he can trust --- especially Annika --- is his most pressing issue. BELOVED ENEMY is simply unputdownable.